I am a woman of many words; that is not even a secret and from the look of things, Kwezi may take after me. Is that a good thing? Well, it perhaps depends on who you are asking.

That said, at three and a half, Kwezi’s words are still hard to comprehend. It surprises many people because most kids at that age are chatterboxes, but she seems to be taking her time, and I am okay with that.

What I know for a fact is that her speech will be clearer with time and I refuse to give myself sleepless nights over it since this is a journey. It may be slower than other children’s but that too is fine.

So how do I know that she is also going to be a woman of many words when she can hardly speak? Well, depending on what she wants, the words are clear. When she wants to know who is knocking at the gate, the statement is clear. Who is it? She asks curiously. When she wants to know why I am coughing, her eyes open widely with concern as she asks "Mummy, are you okay?” Then my favourite, "Wow, so beautiful”.  There are other sentences that she can construct perfectly but the rest of her speech is just one word to say what she wants. Food. Water. Pottee. Susu. And many other words.

So why am I telling you about this? Well, while I have never felt that there is any reason to worry about her speech, I have always worried about how a child feels when they are sick. Does she have a headache? Is she feeling dizzy? While Kwezi is "free” to take all the time she needs to find her speech, I have always wished that I can know if she is pain. So it was very exciting for me when she touched her stomach the other day and announced "Mummy, stomach hurting”. I jumped out of bed, hugged her, kissed her, and hugged her again because to me, that was a milestone. I couldn’t believe that my girl is now grown, that she can share the source of her pain whenever it comes.

Parenting is a weird experience but don’t get me wrong, weird is not always a bad thing. I remember my excitement about Kwezi ‘doing a number two’ after us dealing with constipation. I remember celebrating her learning how to use a potty. I am now here celebrating her communicating about pain. How is this not weird for anyone who has not experienced it? What I can tell you is that the weird things like ‘celebrating poop’ are what make this journey worthwhile and for that I am thankful again and again.